Cashew & Cheese

View Original

What to do with refried beans - Easy vegan recipe ideas

So, you’ve got a bunch of vegan refried bean leftovers and are wondering what in the world to do with them. You’ve come to the right place. I love refried beans and use them in a lot of my dishes. Especially when I’m on doing Mexican-themed meal prep for the week. These beans carry over into many different recipes.


Easy recipes using refried beans that are vegan

Refried Beans and Avocado Toasties with Vegan Egg

Easy recipe using leftover refried beans and avocado.

This is a new breakfast staple at our house.

The mix of the following is absolutely perfect:

  1. Toasted sourdough savory refried beans

  2. Creamy avocado, hearty vegan egg

  3. Salty vegan parmesan

  4. Pickled red onions

  5. Your favorite hot sauce

This toast will make your mouth water is so quick to put together!


Vegan tostadas with refried beans, avocado, and chorizo

Leftover refried beans with vegan chorizo tostadas

This is truly such a quick and easy recipe to whip up. I was surprised to find corn tostadas at my local grocery store in the international foods aisle! This recipe mixes refried beans with spiced vegan chorizo, fresh shred iceberg lettuce, and creamy vegan sour cream sauce, spritzed with fresh lime.

It packs the right amount of savory hearty goodness with fresh and tangy hits!

For the full recipe, click here!


Simple Vegan Torta with Refried beans and Avocado

Leftover refried bean torta sandwich with avocado

I expected this to be good, but dang, it’s REAL good.

This healthy vegan torta recipe is so tasty you won’t even realize just how many veggies you’re eating with each bite. In this recipe, I used oyster mushroom, green and yellow bell peppers, shredded red cabbage, iceberg lettuce, tomato slices, pickled red onion, cilantro, vegan cheese, leftover refried beans, avocado, vegan mayonnaise, and hot sauce!

Click here to see the full recipe.


Vegan refried beans and rice burrito

This is a classic! All you need to make an insanely good vegan burrito are the following:

  • Rice

  • Refried beans

  • Avocado

  • Vegan sour cream

  • Vegan salsa

  • Cilantro

  • Red onion

  • Shred iceberg lettuce

  • Optionally - vegan ground beef


Leftover refried beans and rice bowl

For a healthy filling bowl that is insanely delicious, try the following combination.

  • Your leftover refried beans

  • 1 cup of cooked rice

  • Cilantro

  • Shred red cabbage

  • Beyond meat crumble with black beans

  • Salsa

  • Vegan sour cream

  • Diced pepper

  • Diced tomato

  • Lime to taste

  • Shred iceberg lettuce

  • Vegan Cheese - optional


Final Notes about Left Over Refried Beans!

Why are my refried beans too dry?

Let me guess, you took them out of the can, microwaved them, or heated them in a pot and called it a day. If so, that was your mistake! It’s ok though, I have made this mistake up until recently.

You actually need to add some vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth to your bean mixture!

My tricks for the best canned refried beans

Trick 1 - in a pan, add vegan butter, sautee 1-2 garlic cloves, add a pinch of paprika and oregano. Let it saute until nice and fragrant. This will add some delicious depth to your beans!

Trick 2 - After stirring together your canned beans and sauteed garlic and spices, take 1/2 a cup of vegan broth and slowly mix in a bit at a time. You want to take your time with this as you don’t want it to be too watery. This is all about finding a texture that looks the most appealing to you.

I like my beans to still be firm enough to serve on toast, while others might like their refried beans soupier!

This trick will definitely help you avoid having refried beans that are far too dry.

See this gallery in the original post

What to do with leftover refried beans.